Property of Ankita Bhandari murder case accused can't be attached SDM's report

Kotdwar (U'khand), Feb 14 (PTI) The Pauri district administration in Uttarakhand has said the property of Pulkit Arya, the main accused in resort receptionist Ankita Bhandari's murder case, cannot be attached.
    An investigation conducted into the case by the Yamkeshwar sub-divisional magistrate (SDM) has said no criminal intent was evident in the purchase of 0.334 hectares of land in Ganga Bhogpur by Arya.
    There is nothing evidently wrong in the manner in which the property was bought by the accused and hence, it is not possible to attach it, the SDM's report said.
    Moreover, the property was bought by the accused much before the crime was committed, it added.
    The SDM's probe report has been submitted to police by Pauri District Magistrate Ashish Chauhan.
    The Pauri district police had recommended attaching properties of Arya in Haridwar and Pauri districts worth Rs 2.75 crore, saying those were built on grabbed forest land.
    A preliminary police investigation had found that the Vanantara resort at Ganga Bhogpur, where Bhandari worked as a receptionist, was built on an illegally-grabbed piece of land.
    However, in the wake of the SDM's report finding nothing illegal in the purchase of the land for the resort, acting Superintendent of Police of Pauri Jaya Baloni has ordered a re-investigation into the matter.
    Bhandari (19) was allegedly killed by Arya and two of his accomplices who worked at the resort when she refused to give "extra services" to guests.
    Arya, the son of an influential Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader who has been expelled from the party, and his accomplices are in jail.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)